Obesity remains a serious health problem and it is no secret that many people want to lose weight. Behavioral economists typically argue that “nudges” help individuals with various decisionmaking flaws to live longer, healthier, and better lives. In an article in the new issue of Regulation, Michael L. Marlow discusses how nudging by government differs from nudging by markets, and explains why market nudging is the more promising avenue for helping citizens to lose weight.

Armed with a computer model in 1935, one could probably have written the exact same story on California drought as appears today in the Washington Post some 80 years ago, prompted by the very similar outlier temperatures of 1934 and 2014.

Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the growth of executive power under Presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses, have given rise to a growing libertarian movement in our country – with a greater focus on individual liberty and less government power. David Boaz’s newly released The Libertarian Mind is a comprehensive guide to the history, philosophy, and growth of the libertarian movement, with incisive analyses of today’s most pressing issues and policies.

Cracking the Books

Rhode Island

Note: Scores reflect the data provided on each state's education department website as of December 31, 2012. For more information, please see the Grading Criteria section.

Updates

Rhode Island’s score has been updated to include the “Uniform Chart of Accounts” section, which provides expenditure data post-2008-09.

Per Pupil Expenditures

Rhode Island’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides more than ten years of In$ite Charts & Reports. The reports contain total per pupil expenditure data. Expenditure data since 2009-10 are located in the Uniform Chart of Accounts reports. Rhode Island is missing the most recent year of expenditure data and fails to provide a table or graph that would allow citizens to easily compare changes in per pupil expenditures over time.

Per Pupil Expenditures

Metric

Category

State

District

Score

Type of Per Pupil Expenditures

Total

Total

Credit

Full Credit

Full Credit

Years of Data

10+ years

10+ years

Score

10 / 10

10 / 10

20 / 20

Most Recent Year

2010-11

2010-11

Score

8 / 10

8 / 10

16 / 20

Historical Comparison

None

None

Score

0 / 2.5

0 / 2.5

0 / 5

Total

36 / 45

Total Expenditure Data

Rhode Island provides more than ten years of total expenditure data, including capital expenditures in the IN$ITE reports. Statewide total salary expenditures, including benefits, are available at the summary and object levels do not include any pension data or district-level total salary expenditure data. Expenditure data since 2009-10 are located in the Uniform Chart of Accounts reports, including pension data or district-level total salary expenditure data with benefits. Rhode Island is missing the most recent year of expenditure data.

Public Accessibility

Navigation: Rhode Island’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website was difficult for a layperson to navigate. The homepage lacked intuitive links to “School Finance” or “Reports.” The “Data” dropdown box contained a link to “School and District Statistics” and “School and District Reports” but these did not contain expenditure data. The relevant data was located at the “IN$ITE” link under the “Data” dropdown box. The left-side menu included links to each available year’s Charts & Reports. The “All Districts Combined — Expenditure Charts” link contained the relevant expenditure data up to 2008-09. More recent data was available at the “Uniform Chart of Accounts” section, but there was no message at the “IN$ITE” page indicating where to find more recent data.

Ease of Public Analysis: The financial data that Rhode Island provides in IN$ITE are in PDF format and MS Access but not Excel spreadsheets, which limits the ability of users to analyze the data. The Uniform Chart of Accounts data are provided in PDF and Excel.

[Note: The RI Department of Education website has since been updated and is now much easier to navigate. Scores reflect the website and data provided there as of December 31, 2012.]

Public Accessibility

Category

Metric

Score

Navigation

2 points: Difficult for a layperson to locate the desired data. Major design flaws that considerably inhibit navigability.